Nowadays, more and more teenagers suffer from eating disorders brought about, in the majority of cases, by their desire to look sportive and physically attractive. Eating disorders develop as a type of mental condition characterized by overeating or starvation and related thoughts and emotions. Among these disorders, bulimia stands separately as it is characterized by interchanging periods of overeating and fasting. Teenagers suffering from bulimia worry about the consequences of overeating and take measures that can reduce these consequences. It results in malnutrition and may provoke serious health complications. This paper hypothesizes that to make a change a complex of psychological measures should be taken that includes the use of cognitive-behavioral psychotherapy, formation of the right attitude to food and body weight, and building trusting relations within a family.
The main manifestation of bulimia is the loss of control over eating behavior, and bouts of gluttony, followed by attempts to get rid of their consequences through vomiting, taking laxatives, diuretics, and drugs for weight loss. The food consumed is high-calorie, a teenager eats it in a hurry, more often in the evening, usually without chewing. In general, the attack lasts about an hour and the frequency of attacks ranges from several attacks a day to 1-2 a week (Lecomte et al., 2019). The energy value of a portion eaten at a time reaches 5000 kcal (Lecomte et al., 2019). Gradually, the constant desire to eat increases; at the same time, a fear of obesity becomes obsessive and a psychopathological syndrome is formed — dysmorphic phobia. A dysmorphic phobia is a mental disorder in which a person is overly concerned about some defect or feature of his or her body and is sure that it is a deformity (Lecomte et al., 2019). The next stage of the disease is the appearance of depression. The teenager strives to correct the “flaw” in any way; suicidal thoughts may occur.
To successfully overcome this pathological condition, the joint work of a psychiatrist, a pediatrician, a family doctor, a medical psychologist, and parents is necessary. In advanced cases of the disease, treatment in a specialized clinic is recommended. Outpatient, as well as hospital treatment, consists of several stages such as improvement of somatic and psychological state, normalization of diet and physical activity, and changing eating behavior. To get rid of bouts of overeating, both medication, and psychotherapy are used. The methods are selected individually depending on the characteristics of the patient.
The specialists use cognitive-behavioral psychotherapy that helps to alleviate worries about excess weight from a teenager’s new eating habits. Individual, group and family psychotherapy helps to increase self-esteem and eliminate personal problems, working through all aspects of life. Medical therapy includes the prescription of antiemetics, antidepressants, and sedatives to fight the consequences of the disease (Lecomte et al., 2019). Treatment of bulimia in adolescents has a favorable prognosis and ends in complete recovery when the right specialists are consulted.
Prevention plays a major role in combatting bulimia through forming healthy eating habits. Different prevention techniques should be adopted to avert the development of the disease. Together with parents, a teenager should form the right attitude to food and learn to adequately perceive his or her appearance and body weight. Parents should not choose food as a way of reward; instead, they are advised to form a relationship of trust and support with a teenager to increase his or her self-esteem and self-confidence. Moreover, a teenager should learn to respond to stress without turning to food to quench it. Bulimia is a serious disease and only through the right attitude to a teenager’s personality within a family it can be prevented and successfully treated.
Reference
Lecomte, A., Zerrouk, A., Sibeoni, J., Khan, S., Revah-Levy, A., & Lachal, J. (2019). The role of food in family relationships amongst adolescents with bulimia nervosa: A qualitative study using photo-elicitation. Appetite, 141, 104305.